What to do on Sundays When No Priest

Administrator

Some of you have asked me what to do on Sundays when you do not have a Mass celebrated by a Resistance priest and you have refrained going to go the neo-SSPX Masses.

I encourage you to refrain going to the neo-SSPX Masses (Traditional and valid may they be) because of the proximate risk for the Faith.
Refer to the warning I gave recently about the case for our faithful in Streaky Bay [see below].

Remember that when for any grave reason a person cannot attend the Mass on Sunday and Holiday of obligation (Church's Precept), it remains the grave obligation of "making holy the Day of the Lord" (God's Precept). [see document below]

I would like to give you some suggestions for a "Massless" program (to be modified later):

​

Oh my God, I am sorry and beg pardon for all my sins.
I detest them above all things because they have deserved Thy dreadful punishments.
Because they have offended my Loving Saviour, Jesus Christ.
And most of all because they offend thine infinite Goodness.
I firmly resolve by the help of Thy Grace never to offend Thee again and
carefully to avoid the occasions of sin. Amen.​

1. If possible, set up a small altar, with a Crucifix and a statue of Our Lady. Pray the Perfect Act of Contrition.

2. Start by saying the Holy Rosary.

3. Read the parts of the Proper of the Mass (from the Sunday Mass, not the parts from the Common);

4. Read a commentary on the Mass taken from (choice one among these downloadable PDF files):

5. Say the Confiteor ("I confess...") and then recite the formula of Spiritual Communion;

6. Some Catholic Hymns.

If you have any suggestions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

God bless.
Fr. JCO

********************************************​

Missing Mass, Spiritual Communion

We are obliged to attend Mass each Sunday and on every Holy Day of Obligation.
If sickness, or the obligations to care for a sick person, or extreme weakness, or dangerous weather (and other safety hazards), or to travel more than an hour to reach a Mass, one is not guilty of sin by not attending.

WithMUCH MORE REASONthere is no guilt in missing Mass if the only available Mass is a danger for our Faith.

Let us remember that mortal sin always requires not only grave matter and knowledge, but consent of the will.

In all these instances, we are encouraged to make what is known as a "spiritual Communion," an act expressing what was described by St. Thomas Aquinas as "an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament and in lovingly embracing Him."

In a spiritual Communion, we, with contrite, humble hearts, ask our Lord to come to us in the same way He would if we were able to receive the Sacrament.

This can be doneas often as one likes, informally in one's own words or through one of the traditional prayers which appear below.

What is thevalueof this practice?

The graces received may be as great as those received by some people in the actual Sacrament.

However, the Sacrament itself is inherently greater, our disposition toward the Sacrament affect whether and how we receive its fruits. For example, imagine a woman who is unable to be with her husband but who desires him as contrasted with a woman who has her husband's presence but doesn't care for him. Which husband would be more apt to pour out his love for his wife?

How to Receive Spiritual Communion ​

St. Leonard of Port-Mauriceoffers this advice for receiving Spiritual Communion:

In order to facilitate a practice of such great excellence, ponder what I have to say. When the priest is about to give himself Communion in holy Mass, do you, keeping composed externally and internally, excite in your heart an act of true contrition, and humbly striking your breast, in token that you acknowledge yourself unworthy of so great a grace, make all those acts of love, of self-surrender, of humility, and the rest, which you are accustomed to make when you communicate sacramentally, and then desire with a lively longing to receive your good Jesus, veiled in the sacrament for your benefit. And to kindle your devotion, imagine that most holy Mary, or some saint, your holy advocate, is holding forth to you the sacred particle; figure yourself receiving it, and then, embracing Jesus in your heart, reply to Him, over and over again, with interior words prompted by love: “Come, Jesus, my Beloved, come within this my poor heart; come and satiate my desires; come and sanctify my soul; come, most sweet Jesus, come!” This said, be still; contemplate your good God within you, and, as if you really had communicated, adore Him, thank Him, and perform all those interior acts to which you are accustomed after sacramental Communion.

Here is a choice of a few different formal prayers to pray while following St. Leonard's advice, though you can pray in your own words, if you prefer:

My Jesus, I believe that Thou art present in the Blessed Sacrament. I love Thee above all things and I desire Thee in my soul. Since I cannot now receive Thee sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. As though thou wert already there, I embrace Thee and unite myself wholly to Thee; permit not that I should ever be separated from Thee.

Act of Spiritual Communion​

O Immaculate Queen of Heaven and Earth, Mother of God and Mediatrix of every grace: I believe that Thy dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, is truly, really, and substantially contained in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I love Him above all things and I long to receive Him into my heart. Since I cannot now receive Him sacramentally, be so good as to place Him spiritually in my soul.
O my Jesus, I embrace Thee as One who has already come, and I unite myself entirely to Thee. Never permit me to be separated from Thee. Amen.

Act of Spiritual Communion ​

As I cannot this day enjoy the happiness of assisting at the holy Mysteries, O my God! I transport myself in spirit at the foot of Thine altar; I unite with the Church, which by the hands of the priest, offers Thee Thine adorable Son in the Holy Sacrifice; I offer myself with Him, by Him, and in His Name. I adore, I praise, and thank Thee, imploring Thy mercy, invoking Thine assistance, and presenting Thee the homage I owe Thee as my Creator, the love due to Thee as my Savior.

Apply to my soul, I beseech Thee, O merciful Jesus, Thine infinite merits; apply them also to those for whom I particularly wish to pray. I desire to communicate spiritually, that Thy Blood may purify, Thy Flesh strengthen, and Thy Spirit sanctify me. May I never forget that Thou, my divine Redeemer, hast died for me; may I die to all that is not Thee, that hereafter I may live eternally with Thee. Amen.
***********************************************

I would like to further develop the reasons of my warning to our faithful attending the neo-SSPX Mass last Sunday in SB. Every good Catholic must refrain of exposing to an occasion which is a danger to the Faith.

Now, the neo-SSPX has adopted recently, in its head Bp Fellay and in most of its members, a position which gravely compromises the defense of Faith against the Conciliar errors.

This grave compromise is firstly manifested, in doctrinal matters, by the DOCTRINAL DECLARATION of April 15, 2012, in which Bp. Fellay accepts most of the errors of Vatican II (collegiality, ecumenism and religious liberty) as being in conformity with the “whole Tradition”, which is Benedict XVI’s “hermeneutics of continuity”.

This compromise is also manifested, in practical matters, by the vote made during the General Chapter in July 2012 of SIX CONDITIONS for the “regularization” with the Conciliar Church. Through these conditions the neo-SSPX is now ready to join, at any time, those who are destroying the Church, by surrendering to the authority of Modernist Rome.

So far, neither the Doctrinal Declaration nor the six conditions have been retracted (not simply “withdrawn”…) by Bp Fellay or the SSPX superiors. By these two facts, the neo-SSPX in its doctrinal positions and in its desire to join Modernist Rome has betrayed Abp. Lefebvre’s positions. Do we need to witness altar-girls serving at the neo-SSPX Masses, or their priests preaching open heresies from their pulpits, to start dissociating from them? Certainly not.

The neo-SSPX has taken an irreversible wrong direction which is an objective danger for the Faith. We need nothing less than a miracle to expect the leaders of the neo-SSPX going back to the original positions.

Concerning the Sunday obligation, whenever there is a danger of Faith, there is no obligation in conscience to attend a Mass, Traditional and valid may it be. It’s a similar case with the Indult or Motu proprio Masses, which are Traditional, but they are stained with a compromise in doctrine. This was Abp. Lefebvre’s practical recommendation. Therefore, it’s my duty as a priest to alert the faithful of the danger of going to these Masses, like any father warning his children of dissociating with those who represent a danger to their Faith.

The ultimate decision about this matter is of course in the conscience of our faithful, but nevertheless I must help them understanding the danger which regular attendance to the neo-SSPX Masses represent to our Faith.

After explaining the PRINCIPLES behind my warning, it’s also good to consider the particular circumstances of SB, by recalling some recent FACTS.
Interestingly enough, SB was considered for years by the SSPX priests as a kind of “second class” Mass centre, when it was not simply a place for holydays and relax for their priests… The apostolate never really grew up in this place for the past years.

All the sudden, the neo-SSPX priests started to be interested in the faithful of SB only following Fr. Pfeiffer’s successful visit to SB last April and of Fr. Chazal in July.

The district superior, Fr. Fullerton, came in person to SB to basically threaten the faithful of not visiting them anymore if the faithful continue to support the Resistance. He even dared to put pressure on the owner of the chapel by telling her not to allow anymore the Resistance priests to use it.

Personal attacks were made against the Resistance priests and faithful, condemning them as “rebellious”, “extremists,” “sedevacantists” and so on.

We don’t mind to be the target of personal attacks from the neo-SSPX priests, because we are eager to give them “the other cheek”, but we cannot tolerate that these authorities use their Masses for promoting a new doctrinal position and a sell-out to Modernist Rome. In other words, the neo-SSPX priests were using the celebration of their Mass to “blackmail” the SB faithful…

A proverb says “Facts speak louder than words.” Therefore, in front of the continual use of the Mass by the neo-SSPX priests as an instrument of PRESSURE against our faithful, it’s only normal to warn them not to attend anymore these Masses.

Attachments

Administrator

Pray through the whole liturgy of the Mass together in total silence. No-one can take the place of the priest or the actual Sacrament of Communion. In silence together obviates the possibility of someone imagining himself to be a substitute for the priest. It is a spiritual Communion where we unite ourselves mentally with true Masses being offered throughout the world....

(a) ....as being amongst fellow-Catholics praying before the Blessed Sacrament - hence praying through the whole liturgy with them as if we are still present at the last true Mass we attended. We have never left - so to speak. And that idea continues throughout the whole day in silent mental adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. When praying the Confiteor silently accuse ourselves of our sins; pray deeply for the gift of true sorrow as we make an act of perfect Contrition. Always with the intention of confessing sins and attending Mass when the priesthood is united again.​

For with thee there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of thy law, I have waited for thee, O Lord. My soul hath relied on his word:​

my soul hath hoped in the Lord.​

From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord.​

Because with the Lord there is mercy: and with him plentiful redemption.​

And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. (Ps.130)​

(b) Making a Spiritual Holy Communion. Worship the elevated Host mentally and pray passionately that the gifts of Faith, Hope and Charity will deepen in our souls. This of course is no substitute for the real Sacrament. We depend on the promises given that during these times God will provide special graces through His Blessed Mother beside Whom we are standing at the foot of the Cross with Mary Magdalene on the other side.​

​

(c) Pray l5 decades of the Rosary together throughout the day.​

​

(d) Pray the Stations of the Cross together.​

​

(e) Always conclude the day with an act of perfect contrition and consciously remember that our Guardian Angels are beside us every moment offering our prayers to Almighty God as well as St. Michael to protect our families.​